WVC 60 - 8 - 30
§60-8-30. Exclusive franchise agreements prohibited.
It shall be illegal for any manufacturer, winery, farm winery
or supplier to enter into any exclusive franchise agreement with
any distributor whereby any such distributor is given the exclusive
right within this state or in any given territory within this state
to distribute the product or products of such manufacturer which
are to be sold or distributed pursuant to the provisions of this
article. Further, all agreements between a manufacturer, winery,
farm winery or supplier and a distributor must be in writing and on
file with the commissioner and all such agreements must provide for
termination of either party provided that notice of termination is
provided in writing and by certified mail to the commissioner and
all parties to the agreement ninety days prior to the termination
date. Once the notice has been received by either party, the
distributor shall: (1) Use the ninety-day period to deplete such
distributor's affected wine inventory; or (2) reach some agreement
with the manufacturer, winery, farm winery or supplier to return
unused salable wine inventory or receive payment for unused salable
wine inventory. No new distributor shall be appointed until the
conclusion of the ninety days or as the parties have otherwise
agreed to complete the termination. For the purposes of this
article, "salable" shall mean inventory fit for human consumption
or as otherwise determined by the commissioner.

Note: WV Code updated with legislation passed through the 2016 Regular Session
The West Virginia Code Online is an unofficial copy of the annotated WV Code, provided as a convenience. It has NOT been edited for publication, and is not in any way official or authoritative.